I am the father of two brilliant young ladies. Anyone following me knows this withing 5 minutes. But I get this question fairly often, “Are you working on having a son?” or some variation of it. I am not at all. I’ve never felt that I had to have a son to feel complete. Part of the argument is that a boy will carry my name and my legacy on. I don’t completely believe that...
Small Trips in Time October 2008. Fe (5) and Anastacia (3) I was divorced and working on my side hustle. I became intoxicated with the idea of quitting my job and being more involved in my daughters’ lives. I would be an idiot to quit my steady job. Or would I be a genius? One thing that I’ve always been guilty of is being ok with looking like an idiot, especially for them. These pixelated photos...
Khan Academy Helped My Daughters Through Distance Learning My kids, like everyone else’s, are doing distance-learning. Basically, it’s the idea of learning away from an actual school and mainly online. I was worried about my daughters keeping up with the work and being able to stay on schedule since I’m not there with them to monitor their progress. So, I asked them how they...
My girls have become prolific writers, orators, and performers. Yesterday I picked them up from their mothers like I do every year after Christmas and told them I needed their help. I’m working on a new piece for my daddy page and needed some feedback on how to improve it. It’s been something I’ve been staring at for days and told them to be honest with me. As I read it out loud, I...
In today’s episode, we talk to Charles Ogar of NeoKizomba Productions. I first met Charles over 6 years ago. He was one of the first to start teaching kizomba (His style of dance was later renamed to urbankiz.) in the US. This is the dance that virtually took over my life and my imagination. He found himself fired a little later because he was too distracted but he made the best of...
Current Time & Date January9, 2016 7:33 AM #NowPlaying – Clique – Jay-Z & Kanye Damn I am wired! Woke up wide awake. Seriously. Almost as if I was running late to work. I know you know that feeling. Thinking. A shit-ton. New ideas flooding my mind. But first let me get some breakfast. Done. I’m currently reading several books that have lit a fire in my ass. By...
I try to be the best father I can. The best man I can. For them, as much as for me. I was a decent guy before. But being a father made me realize I really had to step up and bring my skills up. Leadership. Management. Modeling. Conversation. Public speaking. Social awareness. Even when I wasn’t teaching. I was teaching. They are always watching. Learning. Absorbing. To raise better...
My daughters scare me. They motivate me. The inspire me. They make me want to do things I never thought was possible. I’ll explain just how in a bit. I am in a perpetual state of self-improvement. I want to become a leaner, meaner, highly effective machine. I have to be more effective and efficient for crying out loud since I’m not getting younger and my memory is going to hell! I may...
He loved me. I love him. He tried. But he was wrong. And that’s ok. I’ve struggled coming to terms with many of the scars, both internal and external, from my childhood. I was disciplined and slapped around quite a bit. During one of these disciplining sessions, my father slapped me on the side of the face and damaged my ear drum. I can’t put my head underwater. For this reason...
That’s what I try to give them to the best of my ability with my limited resources. Most on the cheap despite appearances. We all tell stories about our childhoods. Those stories are a part of our identity. What we did or didn’t do? Who we did them with? Why they are important to us? These experiences shape us. Make us. I want to make sure that the stories they tell my grandchildren...
They will never write that poem. And they will never write those words They will never write about the father who wasn’t there. The father who didn’t care. who didn’t run his fingers through their hair. They will never have to write those words of pain of the father that didn’t show them how to claim their place in this world. NO! Not these girls. They will never write...
Perhaps I need to be more in the moment. Committed. While watching Fe eat a peach today I became mesmerized by her passion for the peach. Although this may seem like an exaggeration, I promise it isn’t. She had begged me to let her eat it in the car on the way here but told her she needed to wash them first. As soon as we arrived home, she washed one of the peaches and began her moment. I...